FISHING FORECAST: Sea trout dominate coastal fishing scene

Photo courtesy of Capt. Ray Golden Veterinarian Jerry Case and Capt. Ray Golden show some of the catch they made this past Saturday when fishing in a charity tournament. The action was excellent that morning with spotted sea trout, both red and black drum, and sheepshead taking the bite. The two took third place in the tournament with five trout weighing 10 pounds.

Photo courtesy of Stanley Devegter The sheepshead bite was good this past week for, from left, Dennis Cusinelli, David Ranew and Stanley Devegter. The trio landed 25 and released many more, using both live fiddler crabs and bits of cut shrimp for bait.

Coastal fishing flags continue to be hoisted with spotted sea trout well in control of the lead position.

Reports from various fishing camps and marinas show the bite continues to be strong over a wide area of the coast, both in Georgia and South Carolina.

Limit catches are common, and are a healthy indication that the fishery continues to rebound, there still are a significant number of throwbacks showing up in the reports.

Trout in the 18- to 20-inch range have been numerous in the individual reports, many taken on live bait shrimp and mud minnows, as well as on artificial baits.

Catch methods find float rigs still the most used, but those casting and trolling the artificial are also making an impact.

Lots of action

“There is a lot of fish being caught,” said Earl Gantt at Adam’s Bait Shop, located adjacent to the public boat ramp on the Wilmington River at Thunderbolt. “We are running out of bait every day,” he said Tuesday.

A similar report came from both the St. Catherines and Sapelo Sounds areas. Raburn Goodman at Yellow Bluff said the trout action is very strong with many limits per angler caught and still a lot of yearlings being released.

Ron Iler at Shellman Fish Camp, Shellman Bluff, said the trout action is excellent — lots of trout in the 16 to 22-inch range being caught, with some anglers getting their limits with little time spent on the drops.

The sheepshead bite also has improved with several catches being reported along with an occasional flounder and isolated reports of red drum in the count.

The email reports we received were in line with those received by phone, showing trout at the top of the list and sheepshead running a distant second.

Young anglers

They also show that the young anglers are staking out their claims to being good fishermen.

An email from Derrick Smith of Richmond Hill told of his son Jeremy, a Little League catcher with the Richmond Hill Warriors, trading in his Mizuno mitt for a Zebco and working the trout over Saturday when the two were fishing in the Ossabaw Sound area at the mouth of Charles Creek.

Another came from David Wood, who regularly keeps us abreast of what he is catching. He took his daughter Samantha and friend Sarah Zuchuwitz for sheepshead and trout Saturday — Samantha having a hot hand with the trout, landing the two largest.

Banner day for two

Capt. Ray Golden and veterinarian Jerry Case fished the Boys Fishing For Toys Christmas charity tournament Saturday and had a “banner day,” catching trout, red and black drum and sheepshead throughout the morning.

We do not have any results from the tournament other than the two took third place with five trout weighing in at 5 pounds.

Detailing their catch, Capt. Ray said Jerry was planning a fish fry so they kept seven reds, probably catching and releasing three times that many including one measuring 28 inches, which was mandatory.

They also caught four or five black drum and about 20 trout, none smaller than 16 inches. “It was a fun day and for a good cause,” he closed.

The best sheepshead report came from Stanley Devegter, who last week was fishing with Dennis Cusinelli and David Renew and found the chunky battlers hungry. They landed 25 and released several more along with some red drum.

In a follow-up phone call Tuesday, he said the weather forced them home sooner than they planned — that even with muddy water the bite was so steady that they ran out of fiddler crabs and continued to catch sheepshead on bits of cut shrimp As the call was being made, the trio was preparing to head out again.

While the most popular bait for sheepshead action is live fiddler crabs, we received another report of tiny bits of cut shrimp attracting the sheepshead bite — this one taking place among the fallen trees in Blackbeard Creek.

The outlook

The live bait picture is changing slightly with bait fishermen in some areas having to go greater distances to find concentrations in approved dragging areas.

While most of the suppliers are still able to keep up with the demand, some are having to replenish on a daily basis.

An encouraging factor is that several of the bait fishermen are reporting another crop of small white shrimp showing up in the dragging areas, indicating there should be a continuance of available local bait shrimp well into the winter months if temperatures remain mild.

As for the inshore trout action, look for it to continue through the weekend and into next week, probably diminishing as the next weekend approaches and tides spring again relative to the new moon phase (new moon is Dec. 13).

Also look for more sheepshead to show up in the catch reports, as the action picks up both inshore and at the offshore artificial reefs.